8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
The motel was a few miles from the highway, which carried Roman and Sidian down to a small city called Summit Falls.
The fact it was just off the highway meant no one paid Roman any attention as he made the handful of stops necessary to gather what he thought they might need for the trip ahead, and no one looked twice at where Sidian slumped against the passenger side door.
The pleased little smile that curled the edge of his lips filled Roman with a stupid sort of pride, his alpha swelling up in his chest at the knowledge he’d pleased his mate.
As long as Sidian was happy, Roman was content.
Though Roman was not fond of cities, they meant larger stores brimming with thousands of customers per day and dozens of disenchanted employees who paid him no mind.
A couple of people seemed concerned when they looked at him for too long, but no one spoke to him beyond the bare minimum, which was his preference even on a good day.
Roman had never been much of a talker growing up despite his father’s desperate attempts to socialize him.
By the time they pulled into a truck stop to gas up the Ultima, the day was looking brighter despite the dreary clouds that hung low overhead, painting everything with the same muted, gunmetal hue.
Sidian disappeared into the truck stop’s bathroom with a drawstring bag of clothing slung over one shoulder while Roman filled up the tank, sitting in the driver’s seat with the door wide open.
He stared at nothing in particular, mapping out his purchases in his head as he tried to figure out where they would go next.
He’d spent a good portion of his time selecting as much clothing as he could afford, having chosen a store that had plenty of clothing at fair prices.
Then he’d picked up a pair of drawstring bags from the sports department because carrying plastic bags of clothes into a gas station of any kind would look too suspicious.
This was better, but at least it was something.
When Sidian returned to the car, it was in a fresh pair of baggy jeans, a black t-shirt, a heavier plaid jacket with a gray hood tugged up over his soft dark hair, and a pair of sneakers that had looked his size.
He looked like himself again, which also pleased Roman’s alpha enough that he felt a rumble deep in his chest, clearing his throat to shake it off.
It was just clothing. He needed to calm the fuck down.
“Don’t think anyone paid attention to little ol’ me. Too busy digging through clearance snacks and shit,” Sidian said, settling back into the passenger seat. He cocked his head in Roman’s direction, eyebrows raised. “So. We got clothes. We got gas. What comes next?”
That was a good question. What they needed was information. “I need to think about that. And I would like to find a nicer place to stay.”
“Sounds good to me.” Sidian adjusted his seat so he could lean back, tugging his hat down to shadow his eyes as he stifled a yawn against his palm. “Might take a nap on the drive. Once we find a place, though, how do we go about hunting down Pack Kincaid?”
“If we’re lucky, I might be able to look them up.” A task that would be easier with Silver, but Roman wasn’t ready to radio back in to his captain just yet, and Jagger hadn’t called him.
“Look ‘em up?” Sidian clarified, then snorted. “Fair enough. If they could afford that place, they’re probably a bunch of rich assholes.”
Roman knew they would be. It would make killing them a messier affair because they had people to miss them when they were gone, but he would do what he needed to do for his omega.
He slid out of the car to slide the nozzle back into the pump and screw the cap back on the tank, then rejoined Sidian in the car and pulled the door shut behind him.
This was as close to civilization as Roman had been in the last two years, and though he was pleased, he could still affect civility when necessary, he was still unnerved.
The quiet of the Pit, broken only by the occasional shouts and arguments and scuffles, was still far and away more peaceful than this was.
Sidian adjusted himself in his seat before settling, and for just a moment, it was easy to pretend this was just a normal day for a normal couple living a normal life without the Vipers or the center of the bloodbath that prevented Roman and Sidian being ripped away from each other.
In a better world, they would just be stopping for gas on the way home, or maybe on the way to a vacation spot where they could sequester themselves away from the world for a week or two.
Fucked that one up, didn’t you, Roman?
Sidian punched him in the shoulder, shaking Roman out of his daze. “Go get dressed. I want a cheeseburger. Fuck that, I want three cheeseburgers. And you’re paying for them.”
“Of course, Sid.” Roman picked his bag out of the backseat and slid out of the car once again, letting himself stretch out his muscles to prepare for what promised to be another long drive.
He would find somewhere quiet. More than anything, he needed to think.
Three hours outside of the city was the town of Angel Ridge, Oregon.
Tucked into the forest with narrow, cracked streets and worn buildings, it was the perfect place to stop for a bite to eat.
The Ultima was only slightly newer than most of the cars in the diner’s small parking lot, and luckily, it wasn’t painted an ostentatious color that would make it impossible for them to blend in.
Hopefully, though, no police drove by and felt the itch to run the plates of an unfamiliar car.
Roman didn’t know why they would, but it was a concern.
Even though the town gave him an air of people who kept to themselves, he knew better than to drop his guard for even a moment.
Especially with Sidian involved.
The interior of the diner was all wide glass windows and paneled wood, smelling of lemon cleaner and greasy food. Roman cast a glance around just the same, making a note of each person who sat at a booth as well as the elderly man seated at the counter.
“Just sit anywhere,” someone called out to them. “I’ll be with you in just a moment!”
Sidian made a beeline for a booth in the back tucked next to a window, and Roman followed him without a word. The seats were smooth with no cracks, which was a pleasant surprise given the relative age of the building.
Within maybe two minutes of sitting down, a pretty blonde waitress with a fairytale princess amount of curls drawn back into a high ponytail hurried up to the table.
She plucked a notepad from her apron and a pen from behind her ear; the nametag pinned to her waist read Fable in cursive script; it suited her.
She smelled of watermelon sugar, which told Roman that there was an alpha skulking around the kitchen.
No one would let an omega work the front of the house without some kind of back-up.
And that was useful information to know.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Fable said, smoothing down her apron before she straightened up. “What can I get for the two of you?”
Sidian, who had retrieved a menu tucked behind the small rack housing the salt and pepper shakers, glanced up at her. “You guys serving lunch, or is it still too early in the day for that?”
“Don’t even worry about the time, sweetheart. Anything on the menu is available whenever you want it.” She flashed him a pretty smile, her nose scrunching up just a bit before her sapphire blue eyes softened. “Anything you want, it’s yours any way you want it.”
Sidian seemed to pause before he sat up and slid the menu to Roman, who peered down at it. “Three cheeseburgers with everything on them. Fries, uh, but maybe hold the salt on those. Wouldn’t wanna have high blood pressure, right?”
Fable giggled and nodded as she scribbled away on her notepad. “Of course not. And what would you like to drink?”
“Tea, I guess. Sweet tea.” Sidian leaned back in his seat, looking very pleased with himself.
When Fable turned her attention to Roman, he kept his expression as neutral as possible.
Though he knew Sidian had no reason to doubt him at all, there was no reason for him to offer any fuel for a potential fire.
He could control himself. “Just a breakfast platter and some black coffee. We’ve been on the road for a while this morning. ”
“I’ll have that right out to you two.” Fable headed for the counter, giving them a moment alone.
“So, what do we do now?” Sidian asked as soon as he deemed her out of earshot, though Roman wasn’t so sure if she was. “How do you look up Pack Kincaid? I’ve seen your phone, Roman. You can’t have actual fucking data on it.”
The phone had no data. Every phone owned by a Viper existed only to make and accept calls to one another, the captain, and the boss as needed. “I need to call my captain. One of our members is good at collecting information. He may help us.”
“You sure about that?” The fervent glow in Sidian’s violet eyes would have unnerved someone else, but it never disturbed Roman.
He wondered if that was what Sidian thought about in the center.
What he would do when he escaped, plotting ways to slip out of those barred windows, secured doors, security cameras.
How to survive in the countryside just long enough to find someone who might indulge in his lust for revenge.
Two years was more than enough time to lose hope under the crushing system designed to break omegas down at the core of their beings.
Sidian could never break, though. Roman was certain of that.
“That depends,” Roman said, keeping his voice low and soft. “But I will make the call. Silver should be willing to help us.”
Sidian grinned, all bright white teeth. “Fuck yeah.”
With that settled, Roman turned his attention to the window next to them, studying the still-green trees and the miles of forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.
When he’d been younger and his mother was still alive, they’d gone on a few family camping trips that allowed his parents to have some alone time while he explored as far away from the tent as possible, using his nose to lead him back.
If he stepped out of the perimeter where he could pick up their scents, he would backtrack until he was somewhere he deemed safe once again.
Dad never worried about him because he knew Roman would always find his way back to them as long as his nose still worked.
He tried to imagine that for Sidian, for himself.
A cute little tent, a bonfire, Sidian tucked away in Roman’s lap while a child dug through the underbrush for snakes and beetles and Goddess knew what else.
It was hard to imagine normalcy given how far from that path Roman had strayed over the years.
Snapping someone’s neck for the first time had given him a different perspective on life.
Fable returned to their booth with two steaming plates, a mug of coffee for Roman, and a tall glass of iced sweet tea for Sidian. “You two let me know if there’s anything else you need, and I’ll bring it to you. Eat up. And there’s plenty more where that came from.”
Sidian stared after her for a moment before tucking into his first burger, muffling a moan after the first bite that nearly made Roman drop his fork.
The sound traveled straight to his cock, which was only slightly mortifying given they were in public, but he did his best to ignore it as he dug into the half-cooked yolks of his fried eggs.
Given that he’d only gotten Sidian off this morning and asked for nothing himself, it wasn’t surprising to learn his body was still far more responsive than usual.
When Sidian was interested in reciprocating, Roman would be thrilled. But he’d wait until then.
Sidian met his eyes over the table, licking a smear of ketchup from the corner of his mouth; for a moment, Roman imagined it was blood, and his dick throbbed. “You good over there, Roe?”
“I’m fine.” His self-control was better than that. He could sit in public, enjoy a meal with his mate, and not sink into the most pathetic displays of animal instinct possible.
“Oh, are you?” Sidian licked his lips for real, then turned back to his burger.
It was a relief to see him acting this way. Roman couldn’t imagine what Sidian had suffered at the hands of whoever Pack Kincaid was, and as soon as they found them, Roman would visit as much brutality on them as possible. But at least they had not fractured Sidian’s soul.
That would be unforgivable. Roman would let go of himself, and he wasn’t one hundred percent certain he would come back in one piece when all was said and done.
Sidian ate with gusto while Roman took his time with breakfast, continuing to eye the rest of the diner and spare occasional glances toward the door.
No one paid them any mind, but he was paranoid from force of habit and would not drop his guard in a strange place.
Only when they were alone would the sensation of someone watching them fade from his shoulders.
“How do you feel about staying here overnight?” he asked. “In Angel Ridge, I mean.”
Sidian seemed to think about it for a moment. “It’s fine with me. Find a nice place like last time.”
Roman would ask the omega waitress on the way out. He could use a nap before they hit the road again.